


Unscheduled

by enflashings



Category: Nabari no Ou
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-13
Updated: 2013-03-13
Packaged: 2017-12-05 04:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/718770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enflashings/pseuds/enflashings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raikou catches Gau in a state of ignorance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unscheduled

**Author's Note:**

> Set in some post-series timeline in which Shimizus are livin’ in Banten, because I refuse to give up on Raimei’s wish of going to school with her frans ok? ok. (Reposted from tumblr.)

It had taken Gau less than week of living with them to learn that both Shimizu siblings were preferential to bathing in the evenings, and what this meant was that, on weekends when school and work were stresses for another day and the coast was clear of samurai and their various needs and affections, Gau had the bathroom entirely to himself.  
  
And while Gau didn’t consider himself a person strictly preoccupied with the finer things in life or luxuries in general — if he had, over a month of camping had wiped that slate more than clean — he did consider a long, hot bath to be just the thing to occupy an hour or so of an otherwise sparse schedule and empty apartment.  
  
He was wondering, idly paddling at the water with one hand, how much it would cost and how many overtime hours he’d have to take on to build one of those high-end ofuro into what would become the Shimizu compound. Recirculated water sounded like a dream, and more importantly, unlike Raikou’s petitions for a walk-in closet, a dream that wouldn’t be amiss coming true in a traditional Japanese home.  
  
Pleased with this assessment, his own situation, and the temperature of the bathwater, Gau let his thoughts drift where they wanted.  
  
This was a mistake. It took less than speaking of the devil, Gau dimly recognized, to really make him appear, all pink hair and violet kaftan shirt and surprised expression of polite pleasure.  
  
Gau stared, transfixed and numb like he’d stubbed his toe and was waiting, in knowing horror, for the agony to set in. The arm he’d laid in repose along the side of the ofuro slid into the water with a splash, and Gau couldn’t find the muscles necessary to retrieve it.  
  
“You look like you’re enjoying yourself,” Raikou commented.  
  
There wasn’t a single objective, verifiable, sensible reason for Gau to turn a vivid shade of red at that, but Gau’s neurons misfired all they liked anyways, shamelessly reminding him of other instances in which Raikou might make similar comments, and well, that was reason enough to blush for the rest of the decade.  
  
“And now you’ve gone red. Is it too hot in here,” wondered Raikou, settling one hand on the doorknob and giving it a gentle twist and pull. The door eased open into the bathroom fractionally. Gau imagined the temperature and relative humidity would drop fairly quickly at that; he also imagined that temperature and relative humidity and other atmospheric conditions were wholly unrelated to his complexion’s current state. “Gau?”  
  
Human language returned to him reluctantly, as though unsure that Gau could be trusted. The hesitation was likely warranted.  
  
“I — I didn’t know you would be home this morning, Raikou-san,” he stammered. And then, once that ball was rolling, it occurred to him with dismay that  _he hadn’t known Raikou would be home this morning_. Had Raikou’s work schedule changed? Had something happened? Had he been expected to know, and now here Raikou had found him, plainly in a state of not knowing?  
  
You only needed, Gau recalled, thirty millimeters or so of water to drown. The bathwater Gau currently occupied up to his armpits would more than suffice. Raikou might be a little aggrieved at first but it was probably for the best in the long run.  
  
“It really is too hot in here,” said Raikou, a definite frown to his tone. The fan clicked on with a hum. “Perhaps you should get out, you look — stricken.”  
  
“I am so sorry,” Gau moaned, letting his forehead drop onto his wet knees. “I didn’t know you’d be home, I would never have—”  
  
“I wasn’t aware you did this,” Raikou interrupted. Gau looked up to him, dismay growing with every word that came out of Raikou’s perfect mouth. “Is it a habit of yours, when you have the time?”  
  
Gau understood then that Raikou probably wasn’t talking about Gau’s complete failure as a human being, which was cheering.  
  
“Er, only on mornings when I don’t have work or school,” answered Gau. It sounded self-evident as soon as he said it, but Raikou nodded as though it were an interesting response all the same. “I — have you been home for long?”  
  
“I was out for a bit; I bought a new whisk like you asked.”  
  
Gau blinked, attempting to mentally sync with today’s to-do list. He had set Raikou on a series of morning errands, hadn’t he. But it couldn’t have been later than ten, and Gau was quite certain there had been enough on the list to keep Raikou out and about until at least eleven, if not eleven-thirty if Raikou could be counted on to window shop (and he usually could).  
  
“So when you say you bought a whisk,” Gau realized, “you’re telling me that in specific because it’s the only thing you bought?”  
  
“The only thing from your list,” Raikou clarified. He was gazing at the fluorescent light fixture above the sink with an air of intense contemplation. Gau took that as license to make all the leaps of logic he wanted.  
  
“You ran out of money,” Gau surmised. He let his head hit the tiled wall behind him with a quiet groan. “And now you’re here to ask me for more money. Raikou-san, we talked about this—”  
  
“You’re so good at budgeting,” Raikou exclaimed, tone effusive and eyes bright. It gave Gau mood whiplash and stunned him temporarily, making him that much more vulnerable to what Raikou said next. “And you like to make me happy, don’t you Gau?”  
  
“Of course I do, Raikou-san,” Gau murmured, which was also self-evident as far as statements went, but understandably so in this case. The idea of making Raikou happy steeled him enough to forge ahead with his inquiry. “What did you buy?”  
  
“Come see for yourself,” smiled Raikou. He pulled the door inwards the rest of the way, and it bounced off the doorstop with a twang. “In the kitchen.”  
  
“I’m in the bath,” Gau explained, doggedly sticking to his theme of self-evidential phrases. Raikou only cocked his head, pink bob just brushing his shoulder. Gau swallowed. “In the bath  _naked_ , Raikou-san.”  
  
“I’ll close the blinds,” Raikou promised, and disappeared with a definite skip to his step.  
  
Gau was halfway through toweling himself off when Raikou reappeared without so much as a courtesy flinch at the way Gau yelped in shock.  
  
“Leave the bathwater, if you please.”  
  
“Yes, Raikou-san,” said Gau.  
  
He thought then, with the ease in which all his hierarchies and priorities shifted for Raikou’s presence, that the only thing nicer than having the bathroom to himself was having the bathroom to himself and Raikou.  
  
Gau entered the kitchen less wet and more clothed, but exactly as red.


End file.
